Yeremia 11:16
Konteks11:16 I, the Lord, once called 1 you a thriving olive tree,
one that produced beautiful fruit.
But I will set you 2 on fire,
fire that will blaze with a mighty roar. 3
Then all your branches will be good for nothing. 4
Yeremia 25:15
Konteks25:15 So 5 the Lord, the God of Israel, spoke to me in a vision. 6 “Take this cup from my hand. It is filled with the wine of my wrath. 7 Take it and make the nations to whom I send you drink it.
Yeremia 51:14
Konteks51:14 The Lord who rules over all 8 has solemnly sworn, 9
‘I will fill your land with enemy soldiers.
They will swarm over it like locusts. 10
They will raise up shouts of victory over it.’
[11:16] 1 tn Heb “The
[11:16] 2 tn The verb form used here is another example of a verb expressing that the action is as good as done (the Hebrew prophetic perfect).
[11:16] 3 tn Heb “At the sound of a mighty roar he will set fire to it.” For the shift from third person “he” to the first person “I” see the preceding note. The Hebrew use of the pronouns in vv. 16-17 for the olive tree and the people that it represents is likely to cause confusion if retained. In v. 16 the people are “you” and the olive tree is “it.” The people are again “you” in v. 17 but part of the metaphor is carried over, i.e., “he ‘planted’ you.” It creates less confusion in the flow of the passage if the metaphorical identification is carried out throughout by addressing the people/plant as “you.”
[11:16] 4 tn The verb here has most commonly been derived from a root meaning “to be broken” (cf. BDB 949 s.v. II רָעַע) which fits poorly with the metaphor of setting the plant on fire. Another common option is to emend it to a verb meaning “to be burned up” (בָּעַר, ba’ar). However, it is better to follow the lead of the Greek version which translates “be good for nothing” (ἠχρειώθησαν, hcreiwqhsan) and derive the verb from רָעַע (ra’a’) meaning “be bad/evil” (cf. BDB 949 and compare the nuance of the adjective from this verb in BDB 948 s.v. רַע 5).
[25:15] 5 tn This is an attempt to render the Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) which is probably being used in the sense that BDB 473-74 s.v. כִּי 3.c notes, i.e., the causal connection is somewhat loose, related here to the prophecies against the nations. “So” seems to be the most appropriate way to represent this.
[25:15] 6 tn Heb “Thus said the
[25:15] 7 sn “Drinking from the cup of wrath” is a common figure to represent being punished by God. Isaiah had used it earlier to refer to the punishment which Judah was to suffer and from which God would deliver her (Isa 51:17, 22) and Jeremiah’s contemporary Habakkuk uses it of Babylon “pouring out its wrath” on the nations and in turn being forced to drink the bitter cup herself (Hab 2:15-16). In Jer 51:7 the
[51:14] 8 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.” For an explanation of this rendering see the study note on 2:19.
[51:14] 9 tn Heb “has sworn by himself.” See the study note on 22:5 for background.
[51:14] 10 tn Heb “I will fill you with men like locusts.” The “you” refers to Babylon (Babylon is both the city and the land it ruled, Babylonia) which has been alluded to in the preceding verses under descriptive titles. The words “your land” have been used because of the way the preceding verse has been rendered, alluding to people rather than to the land or city. The allusion of “men” is, of course, to enemy soldiers and they are here compared to locusts both for their quantity and their destructiveness (see Joel 1:4). For the use of the particles כִּי אִם (ki ’im) to introduce an oath see BDB 475 s.v. כִּי אִם 2.c and compare usage in 2 Kgs 5:20; one would normally expect אִם לֹא (cf. BDB 50 s.v. אִם 1.b[2]).